Lord Pyro
"I am the Dark Lord Pyro, Head of Zamorak's Union, Rightful King of Asgarnia and the Kingdom Zamorak and First Zamorakian. Now... Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now." Lord Pyro is an alias used by an ancient Mahjarrat roleplayed by Lord Pyro I. The alias is approx. 9,000 years old although the age of the creature behind that mask could be far greater. Appearance Lord Pyro's true form is rarely seen and few who see it live long enough to report on it's appearance. In his assumed human appearance Lord Pyro takes the form of a handsome, blonde haired human standing at around 6 ft '6 in height. It can be assumed his appearance in modelled on some concept of a charming prince, a form specifically designed to hide his various lies and deceptions. At almost all times Lord Pyro wears what appears to be a suit of Zamorakian Rune armour (Sometimes revealed to be only painted or even illusionary making it unclear if Pyro actually possesses such armour). In addition to this Lord Pyro is often seen wearing a number of powerful magical artefacts listed below: * "Defiance" - Pyro's sword, a magical artefact of unknown provenance seen to provide unparalleled control over fire and on occasion shadow magics. * His gauntlets - Refined over a number of years these are believed to be Lord Pyro's own creation. They appear to be made of a strange metal which aids Lord Pyro in casting spells. In time the gauntlet's were modified to contain a runite blade in each mounted above the wrist. Given the gauntlets are elbow length it is reasonable to describe these hidden blades as short swords. * His hood. Another creation of Lord Pyro's seen worn by him constantly in the late 4th Age and most of the 5th Age. This reddish hood is often perceived to have the effect of masking Lord Pyro's full powers from the outside world. Personality It is said the only person who fully understood Lord Pyro's thought processes was the man himself. It was also often speculated that the personality of the alias "Lord Pyro" might in fact differ from that of the creature behind the mask. What is understood about Lord Pyro's personality is that it was very much divided into two halves. In one half he was a father, a grandfather and even a great-grandfather. This side of him showed great compassion for others and was fiercely protective of those he cared about, a trait shown most clearly in his treatment of Sam Nourom whom he saw as a potential apprentice and his prized son Prince Matthew. By the same stroke his treatment of his other son dubbed simply "Bane", displayed his devotion to the Zamorakian cause and to the acquisition of personal power. While Matthew was protected from harm at all times, Bane was put under a harsh training regime designed to turn him into Lord Pyro's personal living weapon. This ruthless brutality would underpin much of Lord Pyro's military career. While never acting like a truly mindless brute, Lord Pyro had no conscience about using violence of any kind to achieve his aims. Skills Having lived for so long Lord Pyro developed numerous skills listed here: Strengths: * Born Leader * Skilled Tactical Commander * Unmatched Pyromancy Skills * Significant knowledge of magical enchantments * Powerful telepath * Expert swordsman * Skilled in Hand-to-hand combat * Multi-lingual Weaknesses: * Often overly aggressive in approach to unexpected problems * Arrogant * Ambitious * Lack of trust/Emotional issues Background History The Zarosian Empire Lord Pyro first came to exist during a seemingly routine patrol into Kharidian territory as part of the Zarosian Army. The identity of Lord Pyro at this time is unknown but he is believed to have been a deputy to one of the more prominent Legatus' in the empire. During the patrol the group came across a cave in which several of the humans asked to shelter in to avoid the blazing heat of the sun for a few moments. When they were grudgingly allowed to do so they came across a powerful guardian, some type of fire elemental that was protecting the cave. The guardian attacked the soldiers on sight, incinerating the humans with ease. Of the remaining three Mahjarrat it is still unclear which of them killed the beast and went inside to claim whatever it was guarding. What is clear now is now upon emerging from the cave Lord Pyro murdered both of his comrades in cold blood in order to keep the secret of the new weapon he had discovered. From the moment he picked up the sword he would later name "Defiance", he would always go by the name Lord Pyro. To this day it is not clear which Mahjarrat he is as Mahjarrat are shapeshifters and Lord Pyro is the only name he would give from that day forward. As Lord Pyro he continued to serve the Zarosian Empire faithfully, displaying now more power than he had ever had in the past as well as well as an altered taste in magical knowledge. Where before he focused on the various obscurities of lore regarding magical enchantments now he was solely focused on improving his Pyromancy. When Zaros made Pyro a full Legatus he asked what he wanted in reward for his service and Pyro asked to be allowed to study Pyromancy under Char and the Empty Lord himself. While Zaros rarely indulged or interacted with him, Pyro had long discussions on matters on complex Pyromatic lore with Char and other notable experts within the empire. Lord Pyro's own knowledge seemed to defy explanation, his insights often leaving his tutors struggling to keep up. Eventually Zamorak made it clear to a number of his fellow Mahjarrat that he intended rebellion against Zaros including Lord Pyro, whose skills and power he had come to respect. In turn Lord Pyro was eager to see the corrupt empire burn and responded so swiftly that he was the first to swear allegiance to the cause. During the attack on Zaros, Lord Pyro was tasked with leading a rearguard force that prevented Zarosian reinforcements from entering the temple and preventing the assassination attempt. The God Wars During the God Wars Lord Pyro served as an important figure in Zamorak's army. Due to his earlier studies of enchantment magic he was often deployed to hold otherwise unsustainable positions. His use of protective wards, magical traps and the animation of inanimate objects to join the fight helped to prevent several key positions from falling into enemy hands, freeing up several Zamorakian armies from defence to pursue more offensive action. His skills with what Zamorak affectionately dubbed the "household spells" was far from his only means of contributing to the war effort and he was also deployed in a number of offences against predominately Zarosian and Saradominist targets. It was during this time that he was also dubbed the simple but accurate title "The Monster" for his aggressive use of telepathy to break victims of his interrogations. It was often said that men would slay themselves rather than face him in the interrogation chamber and that only one in five of his victims ever regained their sanity after a session with him. In the closing years of the war Lord Pyro was involved in the Siege of Senntisten and following Saradomin's betrayal of their brief coalition, led a small army in an attempt to hold portions of the lower city from the Saradominist forces seizing control of the city. Lord Pyro swiftly found his forces cut off from the outside world and struggled to hold ground against an endlessly reinforced army led by major disciples of Saradomin himself. Lord Pyro continued to hold out until the end of the war despite the bleak outlook and maintains a certain regard for Guthix believing that he would have finished his days in the ruins of the lower city had the war continued. After the fighting had ended Lord Pyro attempted to repay this debt by travelling with Guthix as he sought to end the Chaos of the God Wars (despite the banishment of most of the gods there were still a number of loose ends to tie up). Lord Pyro and Guthix had a single conversation in that time, both ended up disagreeing with but respecting the others point of view. During the conversation Lord Pyro did resolve to try and lead the remaining Zamorakians down a different path in the coming age. The 4th Age Lord Pyro spent the early years of the 4th Age building a network of Zamorakian groups that in some ways resembled the Union he would eventually create at the end of the 5th Age. During this period he encouraged and supported the foundation of several of the larger Zamorakian groups now known to this day such as the Kinshra and ZMI groups. At this time Lord Pyro largely tried to promote peace with the other religions even the hated Saradominists. Despite his warlike nature Lord Pyro had come to believe that the great wars were now permanently at an end and that something resembling a utopia would be born out of the ashes. These dreams died at the hands of an ambitious Zamorakian Mahjarrat who was envious of Lord Pyro's power and status within the Zamorakian hierarchy. Desiring his removal from power Lucien hatched a plan to ensure Lord Pyro's downfall. In straightforward combat he knew he could never match Lord Pyro so Lucien quickly looked to treachery to achieve his aims. He briefly considered threatening or attempting to kill Pyro's family (Lord Pyro had recently chosen a mate and they had a new-born daughter named Astaria). This was swiftly dismissed as Lord Pyro's rage and subsequent revenge would have resulted in a slow and painful death for Lucien. Just over a thousand years ago Lucien finally stumbled onto a plan he believed might work. Reaching out to several surviving Zarosians, Lucien agreed to give them Lord Pyro's location so that they might lay an ambush for one of their most hated enemies. This force, including most of the surviving Zarosian demons, attacked Lord Pyro believing that he was weakened as Lucien had implied. Instead they found Lord Pyro as strong as he ever was just prior to a ritual and more than capable of dealing with them. Unfortunately Lucien had in fact predicted his ambush would be destroyed and brought the ritual forward so that his distraction would prevent Lord Pyro's attendance. As the ritual occurred Lord Pyro was able to sense it though gain no power from it and understood his mistake. Lord Pyro decided the best course of action to take at this time was to fake his own demise at the hands of this ambush to give him time to identify and try to destroy whichever Mahjarrat had arranged this. Unforunately it soon became clear that in his current state he was no match for the newly rejuvenated Lucien and his cousin Zemouregal. Lord Pyro went into exile to consider his options while in the meantime his daughter vanished a fact he only discovered later. He then went on to spend much of the second half of the 4th age in self imposed exile and obscurity. His sword was such a powerful artefact that he sent it to a trusted ally in the Red Order to keep it safe and prevent himself from being tracked by it. Little is known of Lord Pyro's actions during the nearly 1000 year period between his exile and his eventual return. It is clear he spent much of the time travelling and his known exploits include: * Visiting Rellekka and undertaking the Trials * Visiting Lunar Isle and spending a number of years studying there, living out what looked to others like a full human lifespan before appearing to "die" of old age so that he could move on to other things * Joining the Kinshra as a freelance mage on a number of occasions * Fathering two more children Bane and Matthew * Discovering an undisclosed location to serve as a personal base and later as the Zamorak Union Vault, the Union's first and most secure base. * Living in Asgarnia as a minor noble with a small estate near Taverly he lived in Category:Characters Category:Mahjarrat Category:Asgarnia